WASHINGTON — Victoria Ruelas was 12 years old when she made history as the first American girl to play in the Little League World Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That was in 1989. And while Ruelas is proud of how far women in sports have come since her childhood, she can’t help but wish there were more opportunities for them to shine. Especially in baseball, where opportunities beyond youth leagues have so often required girls to take unusual paths, most of them alongside men.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe keep saying how much strides we\u2019re making,\u201d Ruelas said. “But they\u2019re so slow in coming. It just should be faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI get excited when I see girls playing and getting to go to the Little League World Series every year. But to still be one here, one there \u2014 that\u2019s upsetting to me. There\u2019s so much more of us out there that play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ruelas and many other women have carved out their own spaces in baseball over the years. Now, the wait for something more unifying is on the horizon with next year’s launch of the Women’s Professional Baseball League.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The league is holding its tryouts in Washington D.C. While baseball stars like former Little League phenom Mo’ne Davis and USA baseball women’s national team player Kelsie Whitmore are already signed to the WPBL, the league’s tryouts are open to all women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That has made way for competitors of all ages to chase their dream of playing professionally. For many, the tryouts are one of the first times they’ve seen so many women’s baseball players in one place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI never thought I\u2019d see this, ever,\u201d said Monica Holguin, of Burbank, California. \u201cYou\u2019re told when you\u2019re younger, \u2018Hey, you have to transition from baseball to softball because there\u2019s no future in (baseball) for women.\u2019 And so you just do it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result for Holguin, 45, was turning her focus to raising her two children instead of pursuing a professional career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd then something like this pops up and you just say, \u2018Hey, let\u2019s just go do it,\u2019\u201d added Holguin, who tried out at third base. \u201cYou know, I really did it. I wanted to come out here, compete, and I wanted to show my kids, it doesn\u2019t matter how old you are, you can chase a dream.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Age is no deterrent for Holguin and several other WPBL hopefuls, who are trying to open doors for the next generation of girls baseball players.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ruelas, 48, played college softball at San Jose State and was on the U.S. team that competed in the 2001 Women\u2019s World Series. She flew to Washington from Honolulu, Hawaii, for the tryouts and said \u201cuntil my body says I cannot do this anymore, I\u2019d like to keep playing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Micaela Minner, who owns a sports training company with her wife in Akron, Ohio, has accomplished plenty in her athletic career. She played baseball until age 15. She was a softball state champion in high school. She helped Missouri’s softball team reach the 2009 Women’s College World Series. And she played professional softball with the Akron Racers in Ohio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minner, now 40 and retired from softball, still feels a deep pull toward baseball \u2014 the sport that she said gave her a sense of belonging growing up in the small town Sanger, Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI was angry about my being a person of color in an all-white town,” Minner said of her childhood. “I hated my skin color. And it wasn\u2019t anything other than I didn\u2019t fit in. I didn\u2019t want to be different.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minner said her stepdad put her in baseball to keep \u201cme out of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even though she played with boys, the sport made her feel part of something bigger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey loved me,\u201d she said. \u201cI fit in, and me fitting in made me love myself. And it saved me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minner is trying out at first base and as a left-handed pitcher for the WPBL. She said even if she doesn’t make the league, her hope is that playing professional baseball becomes a tangible goal for younger girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe goal needs to be doing whatever it takes to show girls that you can do this past high school,\u201d she said. \u201cYou can play this sport and even get paid to play a game that men are doing. And I think that\u2019s the goal \u2014 it has to grow. It has to be something that\u2019s fathomable for young girls right now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n